Judge says Ark. charters don't violate settlement

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal judge says Arkansas' approval of charter schools in Pulaski County has not violated the state's 1989 desegregation agreement with three area school districts.

U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall on Thursday denied a request by the Little Rock School District and a group of black parents to find the state in violation of the desegregation agreement for the way it has approved charter schools.

The lawsuit argued that the independently operated schools draw away students who could be participating in magnet schools and majority-to-minority transfers.

Marshall ruled that "no reasonable fact finder" could conclude that the state is breaking the agreement by approving charter schools.

Arkansas is trying to exit the desegregation agreement, which costs the state about $70 million a year in payments to Little Rock-area districts.

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